The tournament, held at Ramblewood Park in Charlotte, N.C., pitted 10 open teams in a beginning-of-the-season tournament. LOS took second in pool play, but lost to El Diablo in quarterfinals, then to Ignition in the consolation bracket.

Given the team’s finish, captain Paul Weeks called the weekend a disappointment despite the fact that the tournament was LOS’ first official competition.

“I think the tournament certainly showed some individual growth from our players, but we, as a team, failed to execute,” Weeks said. “We had moments where we looked rock-solid, but we also looked unsure of ourselves for the majority of the games.”

Technique and strategy aside, it seems what LOS lacked most throughout the tournament was energy.

“We have a youthful team, and to succeed with younger players, we all need to bring the team fire: the tough man-to-man D, the loud sidelines, the hard marks,” said captain Mike Denardis. “We didn’t have any of that. From our most veteran to newest players, we didn’t come to the level of intensity we needed.”

photo by Erin WiltgenLOS player Eddie Alcorn (white) gets a layout D in the endzone at Queen City

As in most sports, having a multitude of fans cheering from the stands gives teams an advantage. In ultimate Frisbee, the sideline plays a crucial role in that motivation, often referred to as the eighth man.

“It really helps to have all 27 guys talking during a point rather than just the seven guys on the field,” Weeks said. “This weekend, we really did not get our sidelines going, which would have helped us greatly. The teams that played well against us always had better, more intense sidelines.”

Part of that intensity stems from attitude in practice.

“We need to work on practicing tournament-style situations,” Weeks said. “In other words, we need to crank up our practices and make them resemble tournament games. Our team chemistry on the field is somewhat lacking and needs to improve if we are to be competitive in the fall.”

In a more technical sense, Weeks said LOS needs to improve control of the disc.

“Against Ring, we were able to force tons of turnovers but were unable to convert those into goals,” Weeks said. “We can accomplish this by being more patient and taking time to set up and run our offense.”

Denardis added that decision-making and discipline on defense fall on the to-work-on list.

photo by Erin WiltgenLOS player (right) cuts for a score at Queen City

“Our defense is very sloppy right now,” Denardis said. “The lack of team discipline on the marks and downfield need to be addressed. As defenders, you need to play to your strengths and take away something. We didn’t really take away anything.”

On the offensive side of the Frisbee, Denardis said the team showed moments of brilliance.

“But the biggest issue was taking shots when they weren’t in our best interest,” he said.

But Queen City wasn’t entirely a disappointment. Weeks said that since LOS was missing a few veteran players, specifically handlers, the rookies had to step up and take more responsibility.

“The rookies played great and were really the highlight of the weekend,” Weeks said.

Team goals for the rest of the season continue to be to win the last game on Sunday, whether it be for first or 18th place. And based on the Queen City performance, Denardis said another goal for the next tournaments is also to work 100 percent.

“I can take losing,” he said. “I can’t take losing while not putting forward maximum effort.”

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Discovering the ultimate Frisbee world her freshman year at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Erin Wiltgen never looked back. As a part of Pleiades, Erin helped the team get to college nationals the last two of her four years playing and participated in local savage seven tournaments and winter league. Though certainly not a veteran player, she has a passion for the game, the community and the people who make it tick.